Claw
by Princess on Ice
Summary: Have you ever walked past a claw machine and seen something you really wanted? Yuri Plisetsky will do anything to get a plush cat...


Notes: Just something I wrote honestly to make myself feel better. It's been a long, frustrating week.

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It had started off right, a quick trip to the mall to pick up a birthday gift for his grandfather. But gift shopping had to take a backseat as something in one of the many claw games caught Yuri Plisetsky's eye. It was buried under a mountain of other animals, but once he saw the stuffed cat, he had to have it.

He had never been _great_ at these games, and brushed them off as cheap scams. If you actually _won,_ the animal was poorly made and fell apart in days.

But the stuffed cat, with its little hoodie that had holes cut for the ears, was just too irresistible. He stopped in front of the machine and started thinking strategy. The quickest way to win it would be move two or three animals off it. It sounded easy enough. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of coins.

"This won't be too hard," he told himself as he lowered the claw over a dinosaur in a jaunty hat. It slid perfectly down the body, but it did not pick up the toy. "What the - ?!" Yuri glared at the offending dinosaur. It smiled back with its stitched on smile. He slammed another coin in the machine.

This time, it picked up the dinosaur. But it dropped it after traveling a few inches away. It was partially off the cat, now laying face down with its tail in the air.

He decided not to worry about it as it was now off the cat. He took a moment to lean over to the side of the machine to see just how much of the cat was covered. Most of its lower body was under other animals.

"Tch."

He put in another coin and turned his attention to the cow in glasses. To his surprise, the claw not only lifted it, but dropped it in the prize slot. Yuri, surprised, bent down to pick it up. He examined it for a brief second. "At least it's not a pig," he told himself. As he did not want it, he tossed it over his shoulder.

It landed on an empty table behind him.

Yuri's next attempt was a botched one. "Dammit," he whispered to himself, his breath fogging the glass. He had snagged some kind of bird and it slipped from the claw's grasp and landed near the cat.

His next two tries also failed. He began to mutter under his breath. He just wanted the _cat!_ Another try succeeded in moving the bird. He tossed that over his shoulder as well. It landed in front of a shop.

A large frog, too large for the claw he worried, covered most of the cat's bottom half. He could try it. After all, he had done too much work to see a snotty little kid run off with his prize. With a loud exhale, he tried to move the frog. It lifted off the cat but slipped out of the machine's grasp and bounced back down.

"You're so fat you should have just _rolled off!"_ he yelled at the frog. He did not care that he was starting to get looks from those passing by. He angrily shoved another coin into the machine and pulled on the stick. After hooking the frog again, it slipped from the machine, again. That time, however, it hit the earlier offender, the dinosaur, then rolled down the rest of the animals piled in the machine. It came to rest against the glass in front of Yuri.

"You're mocking me, aren't you?" he demanded. The frog did not answer.

Yuri's anger vanished as he realized the cat was free! Except one back leg, buried under the other animals. If he could just wiggle it free...

The first time the claw caught the cat, it lifted it straight up as high as its stuck leg would allow, and dropped it. Yuri held his mouth shut in an attempt to hold in his frustration. He slammed his fist down on the controls. "I will have this cat," he muttered to himself.

The next try fully freed the cat from under the other animals. Yuri's eyes lit up as he realized there was a tail. A hole cut specifically in its little pants allowed it to hang freely. His excitement became anger once again as the cat fell.

"Damn, this is too much!" And his coin pile was becoming smaller. With a sigh, he deposited another one.

This time, the claw flipped the cat over. It landed on the hole. Yuri stared for a second in disbelief as the cat just sat there.

" _Damn this machine!"_ he shouted. He reared back and began to kick it. He did not care that people were staring. He did not care about the whispers. He just wanted to fight the claw game as best as he could.

After his fourth kick connected, the machine wiggled. The desired plushie also wiggled. Then it slipped into the hole and down the prize chute. Yuri stood there, dumbfounded, his foot still against the glass. Then he grinned to himself, satisfied. He picked up the cat from behind the little door.

He took several moments to examine it. The hood even lowered! He smiled to himself and tucked the cat into his own hoodie, then he went on about his business.


End file.
